Non-skid device for motor and other vehicles



A. C. NORMAN. NON-SKID DEVICE FOR MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES.

Patented June, 7, 1921,

2 SHEETSSHI;E:[ 1.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, I921- 3m I LE 1Z4} 6 v 21 I: I 20 f F 3 8 a aMMM N r r w sawi 5 w Q8 )88 8 on A C. l ol'llwb.

A. c. NORMAN. NON-SKID DEVICE FOR MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, I92!- 1,381,061; PatentedJune 7, 1921.

.2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 UNITED STATES PATENT] orrrcgn.

NON-SKID DEVICE r012. oron AND O HE VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 111167, 1921,

Application filed January 20, 1921. SeriaLNo. 438,696. I

T 0 all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I ASHLEY/ CHAaLEs NORMAN, a subject of Hls MajestytheKing of England,and resident of Battersea Park, in the county of London,Kingdom of England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inor Relating to Non-Skid Devices for Motor and other Vehicles, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to non-skid devices for the wheels of motor andother vehicles and has for its object to provide an improved non-skiddevice which is simple 1n construction, eflicient in operation and whichis automatically brought into use.

According to the present invention there is provided inwardly of each orany wheel a hanging or .downwardly extending member carrying permanentlyor. detachably 'se-j cured thereto a device with which the'adjacentwheel cooperates so as to prevent or minimize skidding. The. said deviceis preferably in the form of a chain-netting or a plurality of loose butlaterally interconnects ed chains the lower end or ends of which' ifdesired may be in contact with the road in normal running. The links ofthe chain netting are preferably twisted so that the netting may ridefiat as a whole. The hanging or downwardly extending member preferablycomprisesan arm adapted to be loosely secured in position on the axle ortubular casing surrounding the axle. When used on a front axle thearm-is supported by a swivel joint secured to the front axle, as shownin Fig. 7.

I will describewith reference to the accompanying drawing a constructionin accordance with the present invention but I do not limit myself tothe precise construction described and illustrated.

Figure 1 is an end view of the rear axle of a motor car showing twonon-skid devices in accordance with the present invention appliedthereto.

Fig. 2 is an end view drawn to an enlarged scale of the rear axle andnon-skid device. 7 I

Fig. 3 is a side View of the non-skid device of Fig- 2.

Fig. 4 is a section drawn to an enlarged scale showing the connection ofthe chain to its support.

is a vertical section on the line 55 of" Fig. 7 showing the swiveljointconnection of the device when applied to a front axle. i

Fig. 6 isja sectional plan on theline 6-4), Fig.5.

Fig. 7 shows a general arrangement of thedevice on a smaller scaleattached to the front axle.

Referring to the drawing the upper end of the hanging armI 1 ,isprovidedwith an arcuate or other suitable end '2 to enga e the axle 3" ortubular casing and the sald arcuate end maybe supported and'retained inposition byfanarcuate or other suitably shaped cover piece 4 secured tothe arcuate end of. thedownwardly extending member by bolts 5 orequivalent. The latter is loosely secured to the axle and the rotationalmovement thereof (if allowed for) maybe limited by suitable stops suchaspins 6, 7, screwed into the upper cover piece land adapted .to buttagainst pins 8, 9,

screwed into the 1shaftg=orthe said downwardly extending member may berigidly secured to the axle or tubular casing sur-. roundingtheaxleg orif so desired the end 20f the hanging arm may be provided with pins 10,11 connectedby springs'12, 13 to a hook-bolt secured to the axle 3. Thelower end 14 of the downwardly extending arm is preferably of invertedT-shaped form .and is adapted to carry a member 15. The member 15 is-provided with a central hole through which passes the lower end 16 ofthe arm 1 the said end being of hexagonal, square or other suitable formso as to act simultaneously as a guide for the member 15 and prevent.rotationithereof. A piece of metallic netting 17 such as chain-nettingor other suitable material such as loose chains are as 'shown connectedas by welding or in other suitablemeans to a vertically slidable plate18 to which the member 15 is connectedby studs 19 a plate 20 beinginterposed between the member 15 and the 1. Thesaidadjustable member 15is pref- I i erably disposed so that its length is atright angles to theaxle or tubular casing surrounding the axle and the downward movement ofthe length of metallic netting or loose chain is limited by the invertedT- shaped plate of the downwardly extend ing member 1, which end mayr-beintegrally or detachably but rigidly secured to the said member.

The metallic netting -support is adjustably and resiliently superposedbyimeans of the studs 19 and springs21above the plate 20 forming theinverted T-shaped end vof the downwardly extending arm. The ends of theseveral chains maybeconnected-tot I plates 18 as shown.

In the construction and arrangements shown in Fig. 5 the arm 1 issupportedfrom the front axle 23 by a:cla1nping device oomprising two Lshaped plates 24, 25 connected to the axlebyla bolt 26. "The two: plates24,, 25 are arcuately recessed as at 27' to sup port the head 28 of abolt 29 having a tapered end carrying a plate 30provided withacorrespondingly taperedcentral hole. The plate 30 which is keyed ontothe bolt 29 is secured in position by a nut 31, ball bearing races 82,33, being interposed, between the "head of the bolt andthe upper faceoff the plate 34. Formed in one with the plate '30 as shown (orremovably attached thereto) :is an arm 34 which is connected to the :tierod35 coupling the steering'knuckles of thetwo front wheels, only'on'e'of which wheels isshown in Fig. 7. As before'the upperyencl pfthearm 1 is of arcuate forrn and *the"'flan.ged portion thereof isconnected by bolts 36, 3.7 to the plate34crso as to swivel or movetherewith and with'the movements 'ofthe tie I'Odf35. The arcuate'portionof the upper end of the arm 1 allows for tighteningup"andad justment ofthe nutf3-l.

, In usethe'non-skiddingefiectisdue to the mounting oit'the relevantwheel on the'adjacent portion iof loose chains whichmay be thus drawnunder the wheel. -In general the non-skidding effect is produced "on*the 1 off wI Kheel or wheels relatively to the direction of s 1 a a Thenon-skidding device hereinb'efore described is thus automatic' in actionand if de sired may be provided as a permanent or removable attachmentto either thefront axle or rear axle or toboth the front axleand rearaxle.

While as here shown and described, the wheelengagingporti on o-f'the nonskid device is shown'as loose chains, it is apparent that any otherdesir'edform of; this structure which'will answer: the purpose of the.hicle,.,a flexible matlcarried, by said arm, and

meansforturningthe arm and thereby the mat in thesteering of thevehicle.

2. A non-skid device comprising an arm,

aaswivel ijoint-connecting said'arm, an axle,

a flexible mat carried by the arm, and a connection between said :arm:and steering rod of thevehicle. a

- 3. A non-skid device comprising opposite plates adaptedto be connectedto the axle of a vehicle, a pivot pin :supported-bysaid plates below'the axle, an arm supported by said pivot pin, afiexible: mat carried-by:said arm, anda connectionbetween said arm and the steering rod of thevehicle; w r 1 4. a A non-skid device for vehicles, comprisingan-arm,aplate fixed atrthelowerl' end of said :armi, a plate slidably mountedonthe arm above the fixed plate, a mat-carrying plate arranged below. thefixed plate, connections between the sliding .plate'and matcarryingplate, springelemntssinterp-osed between the fixed plate and slidingplate,and a fixed ma't secured to-wthe zmat carry ing vplate, wherebythe mat carrying plate and sliding plate may'move in one direction understrain on-the:mat and return-to normal position, following relief ofsuch strain. 5-. A non-skid devicetor'vehicles, comprising anarm-connected to the axle of the vehicle, a plate carried by thelowerend 085 the I arm, and rigid'therewith,spaced plates arranged aboveandbelow the'fixed plate, and removably connected with one another 100throughthe fixed plate, a fiexiblemat carried by one'of' said spacedplates, a resilient meansarrang'ed between one of said spaced plates andsaid fixed plate to normally maintain-the spaced plate in apredetermined re 105 lation with the fixed plate.- I Y A non-skid'dcvicecomprisingan arm, adapted to be carried by the axle of a vehicle, saidarm depending below theaxle, a" fixed platecarried by the free end ofsaid arm, a 110 flexible mat, and a mat'supporting member slidablyengaging the fixed plate and limited in movementin bothdirectionsrelative to said fixed plate, a resilient means between the matsupporting member and the fixed 11 plate to maintain said member in aprede-

